Please read the guidelines below to gain clarity on the types of content you may want to submit (or not – because when Karma’s not happy, nobody’s happy!).

Inappropriate content: Quippy, clever and colorful language and imagery is fabulous, but there’s no need or tolerance for threats, harassment, lewdness, hate speech, and other displays of bigotry.

Conflicts of interest: It’s probably not a good idea for you to write a review of your own business.

Relevance: Please make sure your contributions are relevant and stick to The Golden Rule. For example, reviews aren’t the place for rants about a business’s employment practices, political ideologies, extraordinary circumstances, or other matters that don’t address the core of the consumer experience. We do encourage transparency so if you’ve had a negative consumer experience, help the business by offering potential solutions along with the news that they let you down.

Privacy: Don’t publicize other people’s private information. Please don’t post close-up photos of other people without their permission, and please don’t post other people’s full names unless you’re referring to service providers who are commonly identified by their full names.

Intellectual property: This particular guideline is a real hot button for us here at Building Beautiful Souls. Please, please, please don’t swipe content from other sites or users. Trust in your own smarts and artistic ability. Don’t deny yourself the opportunity to create your own awesome reviews, photos and articles! You’ll do great work!

ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES

Review Guidelines

We love reviews that are passionate and transparent. Remember, words are powerful beyond measure so what you write could alter the course of someone’s life. Here are some additional things to consider for conscious reviewers.

Personal experience: We want to hear about your firsthand experience. When you share the sacred moments from your own life you offer a wealth of knowledge from which consumers and business folks can glean insight and helpful tips. From your story they will be able to plan the best purchases, dates, family vacations, etc. for them. Isn’t it cool to be part of that?

Accuracy: Make sure your review is factually correct. Feel free to air your opinions, but don’t misrepresent your experience. We don’t take sides when it comes to factual disputes, so we expect you to stand behind your review.

Review updates: Review updates should reflect a new experience or interaction with the business. Living in the past isn’t sexy so don’t tell the same old story you’ve already told. If you’d like to add new insight to an old experience, just edit your review instead of creating a new update.

Photo Guidelines

In today’s high tech world pro looking pics are one screen tap away! You can upload photos to your personal account and any business listing. The best business photos reflect the typical consumer experience (e.g., what the business looks like, what the business offers, etc.). Photos and captions that reflect your personal experience are better uploaded to your personal account.

Event Guidelines

Have a groovy event, fair, festival or gathering the world should know about? You can post it here. Please don’t use Events to post your recurring promotional announcements and sales. We also like to keep the content fresh, so please don’t post events more than 6 months in advance.

Business Owner Guidelines

Business owners should be getting in on the act, too. Making sure your business listing is appealing and leaving thoughtful, honest reviews when appropriate helps you to gain consumer trust and loyalty. For helpful business building information and resources, visit the BBS Learning Center.

Some other words of wisdom:

Listing Description:

You can use the “Listing Description” space to tell potential customers all about your business. There is NO limit to how much content you can post. Please keep it relevant: don’t use this feature to attack your competitors, reviewers, or BBS, and don’t use it to seed keywords or post special offers or promotions — we’ll remove them if we see them.

Public Comments:

Private messaging is sometimes the best way to resolve a dispute with an unhappy customer, but business owners can also address issues publicly by posting a public comment. By publicly addressing unhappy customers, you show customers you operate a transparent business and are really invested in their experience. As with private messaging, we ask that business owners upload a clear photo of themselves to help personalize their message. Don’t use public comments to launch personal attacks, advertise, or offer an incentive to change a review.

Video:

Videos are a terrific way for you to promote your business! Be as creative as you can, but please keep it clean. We do not allow imagery showing violence, drug use, nudity, near nudity, or suggestive acts. Also, please don’t use your video to disparage other businesses, users or BBS; request or solicit reviews from users; or respond to user reviews.